Drumhead Justice
by Silent-Echo117
Summary: Valeriya Wilson finds herself in a sticky situation with an abusive boyfriend and a heaping helping of denial. When friends try to help she shrugs them off with excuses, but can Yuri Petrov change that? Read and find out! See what happens when everyone including Val herself get fed up with the mistreatment. Yuri x OC /Lunatic x OC IvanxOC rated M for abuse and potty mouths
1. excuses, excuses

**AN: Welcome everyone to Drumhead justice! First off, tiger and bunny and its characters sadly do not belong to me. Once again, as with all or most of my stories, there are two ocs in this fic, so if those aren't your thing, I apologize. I also hugely apologize for the tremendous length of this chapter; it turned out far longer than I had anticipated! ^^' A huge thanks to my beta reader, without whom, this story would not be! Anyway, let's get this party started! Thanks for taking a look, and please enjoy! **

**P.s. please don't forget to review, reviews make Miss Echo happy~ **

**Thanks, and thanks again! **

Valeriya shrank back into the corner on her hands and knees, cradling her head in her hands when she filled as much of the tight space as she could.

"Frank, please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean- I wasn't thinking, I-"she attempted to apologize before a large hand came down and forcefully grabbed her wrist.

"That's right, you never think, lazy bitch!" The man yelled as he yanked the smaller woman up to his face. The ugly scent of alcohol filled Val's nostrils and began to choke her airway. His other hand tangled in her long raven locks, yanking a handful upwards, causing her to cry out in pain. The hot tears began to well up twice as fast and soon clouded her vision completely.

"Frank, please!" she begged, but it never did any good, he always hit her until she lay in a heap on the wood floor of the tiny apartment and he had sauntered back to the bar for a refill. This night was no different. Valeriya could taste the iron of her blood on her tongue as it seeped from her swelled lips. Using what little strength she still possessed, she dragged herself to the bed and rested for at least a few hours.

When morning arose, Valeriya woke to the 6;30 sun shining through the dirty window. Since she worked late most of the time, and franks was constantly inebriated, nothing around the apartment was clean. Although, the small space hadn't even been clean when they moved in. with the only income coming from Vals paycheck, it was hard to afford anything other than this rundown apartment on the dangerous side of town.

Small feet meeting the cold wooden floor, the woman yawned and stretched, but stopped short when her ribs angrily protested. No doubt they were bruised, just like the rest of her body. Her bare feet padded to the bathroom where she stood, surveying herself in the mirror. Glancing down at her arms, she noticed new angry bruises forming over top of the fading yellow ones.

'Guess it's a good day for long sleeves.' She thought to herself as she made her way back to the dresser to retrieve some clean clothes.

After her morning routine, Valeriya passed Frank sitting unconscious at the kitchen table. After she poured her coffee, she was out the door, waking him would only cause her more pain.

Dressed in a navy blue blazer and matching trousers, she made her way through the doors of apollon media headquarters. Three badge swipes and several corridors later, she arrived at her shared office. When she walked through the door, her partner, Yuri Petrov was already sitting at his desk.

"You're here early, couldn't sleep?" she asked. Yuri looked at her and gave a small smile.

"We both know how much I love my job; I wouldn't miss a single second of it." He replied sarcastically before averting his gaze back to the paperwork on his desk.

She loved that he actually spoke around her. When she saw him with anyone else, he gave them the cold shoulder. She guessed it was because they both worked as legal consultants for apollon media, but she could have just seen him on bad days.

When he was sure she was seated and began to work, he looked up at her discreetly, observing her every move. He noticed the large dark rings and the puffy nature of her eyes, she had been crying recently. Her lips were cracked and puffy once again. He wondered what put her in this position day after day. He admired her this way each day, the way her long raven lochs framed her slim face, and her petite figure caught his eye constantly.

Her appearance was not the only positive feature about her, she was completely brilliant. As a child, she had lost her parents and skipped from foster home to foster home until she was sixteen. Instead of pitying herself, she sought to gain as much knowledge as she could, and she succeeded. Graduating law school at twenty three as valedictorian had certainly paid off.

The squeak of her chair echoed through the room and broke Yuri from his thoughts as she stood and walked to the door. "I'm going down to engineering for a minute, be right back." He gave a grunt in response as she exited.

Now was the perfect time to find out more about her. Clicking the icon next to her name, Yuri learned all of the general info she had already told him, but one thing jumped out to him, her address. Could she be getting mugged or beat up because of where she lived? There was only one way to find out.

The sliding glass doors opened and she stepped through. Before she could even call his name, Fitz was standing there in front of her. Startled, her hand flew to her chest.

"Oh my god, I didn't even see you there Fitz!"

Fitz had been Valeriyas best friend for many years, and knew all of her troubles. His next powers allowed him the minutest hearing, enabling him to work perfectly alongside Saito. Val always had to be careful as sometimes she would unintentionally yell, causing him pain.

"I wouldn't think so with those puffy eyes. What happened to you Val?" of course, Fitz knew the answer, he just couldn't say anything.

"oh, I burnt myself making dinner last night, and I cried a bit, that's all, nothing to worry about." She gave a faulty smile.

Fitz only gave a hum in response. He decided to let it drop for now; he'd talk to her later. Their conversation was short lived as they both had work to do, but Fitz placed a hand on her shoulder on her way through the door.

"Why don't you meet me down here when you're getting ready to leave, I'll be here pretty late, there's something I need to talk to you about." He suggested.

Val nodded, whatever he was planning, it sounded serious.

Passing through the familiar building, she finally arrived back at her office. There was no expression on her face as she sat at her desk and worked, occasionally sipping the steaming beverage.

After a long day filled with silence, Val finished her last bit of paperwork. Glancing at the clock, she read 10 pm, when did it get that late? Frank was probably awake, and angry about not getting his dinner. With a solemn sigh she rose from her desk and began packing her things into her bag.

"Leaving so soon?" Yuri poked, hoping to stall her a few more minutes.

"Well, I'm not a hard worker, like some people around here." she wore a weak smile and slung her purse over her shoulder. "I've got to go see someone in engineering then I'm outta here. Goodnight Yuri, you should get home and get some sleep as well."

"Don't worry about me; you should be the one getting more sleep." She gave a humored snort and made her way out of the office.

Yuri knew who she was going to see, she went down to engineering all the time to see him. At first, Yuri had been jealous of the short blonde, she cared so deeply about him, but through time, he realized they were only close friends.

Making her way back down to engineering, a hand raked through her hair. The door whooshed open and she stepped through. "Hey Fitz!" she called to him when she spotted him in his chair. He swiveled to face her and nodded in greeting. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked, dropping her purse and coming closer to him.

An exhausted sigh escaped his lips as he thought of how to phrase it. "What really happened last night Val?"

She suddenly became fidgety. "w-what are you talking about? I already told you what happened."

"Val, don't lie to me, I'm not stupid." Glasses lifted off his face, and he brought his hand up to rub his temple.

"Why would I lie to you Fitz?" she asked, acting innocent.

"You know why, stop covering for him Valeriya, you can't let him do this to you anymore" his tone began to rise, if he didn't say something soon, he might lose his friend completely.

"What on earth are you on about Fitz?" her tone exasperated.

"I'm talking about your scumbag boyfriend! I know how he treats you, how he hits you and pulls your hair and burns you! He spends your paychecks on booze then comes home and beats you! You cannot live like this Valeriya, he will kill you! You're so smart, and yet, so oblivious!" there was an intense tone in his voice. She didn't like this, he was very seldom angry about anything, and when his tone rose above anything more than a whisper, she knew things were serious.

"Why would you say that?" the familiar stinging of hot tears prickled at her eyes and she turned so she did not show him her defeat. "you have no idea what you're talking about, he's just having a rough time right now, that's all, he'll get better!" she harshly swiped the back of her hand across her face, getting rid of the tears that had escaped.

"He will never get better Val, only worse! Look at what he's done to you, when I met you, you were a confident, strong, beautiful woman, now you're just a timid girl, and I understand why. You always dressed in clothes that let some skin show because you could, but now your body is covered in welts and bruises so you can't! I don't know you anymore, the Valeriya I knew would never let anyone talk to her in a raised tone, let alone smack her around like this." He let a small silence take over before continuing "I know what you're feeling, you feel like you deserve this, as a punishment, but you don't Val, you deserve so much more." He let his voice fall to a disappointed whisper and let his words sink in.

His words hit her deep. He was right in everything he said, and she knew it. Knowing that if she said anything more, she would break down, she prepared to leave. Grabbing up her purse, she stopped in the doorway. "When you're ready to apologize, I'll be in my office." She said calmly.

The doors in the front lobby rushed open and she rushed out, pulling her hand harshly across her face, she tried to wipe away her tears. Yuri stood, watching the entrance of the building for a long while before she finally exited. She was sobbing heavily, could this be the reason she was in such bad shape? Was he responsible for her tears? Questions buzzed through the judges' mind as he thought about confronting Fitz, but soon remembered his plan.

Moving quickly, Yuri rushed to dress into his suit. Slipping on his mask on the way out of the door, he caught up with the short woman. He secretly watched her from the top of a building. She swiped her eyes angrily with her sleeve, was she crying? He moved from one rooftop to the next to keep an eye on her. Before long, she was out of sight. He whipped his head around frantically in search of her, but found nothing, then there was a cry from within an alley way.

The wind of the night was hard on Valeriya's face as it chilled the tears on her cheeks before she could wipe them away. The sound of another pair of feet behind her reached her ears but as she turned to find the source of the tapping, a large hand met her mouth. Another hand shot out and grabbed the bruise that Frank had left around her wrist. She tried to scream, but the hand over her mouth clamped tighter and she felt hot breath on her ear. "Scream and I'll gut you like a pig." The gravelly voice warned before dragging her into a dark alley.

Val felt her back collide with the ground as the figure loomed over her. She felt the man's free hand roaming her body and stop just above the top of her trousers. Using his blade, he popped the first five buttons of her shirt. "Maybe you like it here first, or perhaps we should start up here." he gave a chuckle as his hand grabbed firmly to one of her full, round breasts, groping through her bra.

She gave a small cry and the ever present tears began again. This wasn't how she wanted her life to end, although, then she wouldn't have to take the beatings every night, no more harsh slaps, or cuts from broken beer bottles. Yes, maybe she should scream so that he could kill her and end all of the torture.

Getting lost in his lust, the hand over her mouth lifted, and she let out a piercing wail. Immediately, the hand appeared again and a knife pressed itself into the skin of her neck.

"What did I say, huh?! No I'm gonna have to kill ya!" the attacker said furiously.

"Hear the voice of Thanatos, repent sinner, for this is your judgment." That voice, she had heard it before, but where? Her eyes widened with realization, she had heard it on hero TV, it was Lunatic.

The man jumped up and off Valeriya, now pointing the blade at the masked figure. Lunatic raised his crossbow to the assailant and began to load it. The man became fidgety with the realization that he was no match for the next and fled down the alley, tripping, picking himself up and fleeing once again.

Val flinched and cradled her head, bringing her knees to her chin. Her eyes clenched together so hard, she began to see spots.

A few minutes of silence passed and she warily opened her eyes, scanning around before a gloved hand came into her field of vision. At first, she flinched, but then she recognized that she was no longer in danger. Slowly and ever so cautiously, she gently grasped the hand and rose to her feet. The man in the mask towered above her, and she looked up at his face. No longer was she intimidated, she was only grateful.

"Thank you...but…why did you not shoot me?" she asked quietly.

The figure cocked his head to the side before letting his voice be heard once again. "Because only weak men harm the innocent." And in a flash, he was gone.

Looking around quickly, she tried to spot her savior, but he was nowhere in sight. Smiling a bit to herself, she grabbed her purse and kept walking.

Lunatic still followed close behind her, just in case. Finally, he watched as she entered a small apartment complex. Finding just the right perch, he could see into one of the apartments, and luckily, it was hers.

Stepping through the front door, she called out meekly. "Frank? I-I'm home…" she had just enough time to duck and cover her head as a beer bottle whizzed past her and smashed into the wall.

"What the hell woman, where is my food?!" he shouted at her angrily, suddenly staring down at her.

"W-well, see, I had this big case and…" she began to trail off before the back of his hand collided with her cheek. Picking her up by the throat, he threw her down onto the floor with a loud thud, with ease, as if she were a rag doll.

Propping herself up on her elbows, she began to apologize once again, but it was no use as she received a kick to the mouth. He had decided that he wanted to try something new. Picking up a large piece of the broken glass, he tugged her arm away from her body, raking the glass up and down the appendage several times before ultimately getting bored and sauntering away to pass out on the couch.

When she was positive he was snoring lightly, she gathered the little strength she had left and dragged herself to the kitchen sink. Running the cold tap, she stuck the blood soaked limb under the water. She hissed at the pain, but let the water run over the cuts for a few minutes longer. Val shut off the water and reached under the sink to grab the first aid kit and an old rag. First, the wrapped her arm tightly from the elbow down to her wrist to cover the cuts, then wet the rag to go clean up the puddle of blood that had formed on the floor.

After making sure she had cleaned up all of the red liquid, she returned to the sink to rinse the cloth. Now turning off the water, she rung out the rag and hung it on the edge of the counter. The stars outside the small window above the sink were almost mesmerizing to her as she became wrapped up in her own thoughts. Lunatic's words rang through her mind over and over.

Part of her wished that Lunatic had done away with her, and yet, part of her was extremely grateful to him. She wished he could come save her once again from this awful nightmare. Maybe Fitz was right, maybe she had to do something, but what could she do? She was trapped. She also wished the media would speak better about Lunatic; he couldn't be bad if he had just saved her from being raped. Sighing, she dragged herself to bed for yet another sleepless night.

Outside, Yuri sat looking in on the horrible scene that unfolded in Valeriya's apartment. So that's why she always looked so beat up and down trod. His eyes shut tightly and his fists clenched in anger. How could anyone treat someone so special in such a way, especially a woman, a weak fragile one at that. He would make sure that this bastard could never hurt her again, he would lock him up for good, or better yet, his idea of "justice" would pull through.

**AN: Poor Val, she's got it pretty hard huh? Do you think Yuri's sense of justice will prevail, or not? And what about Fitz? What's he going to do? Find out in the next chapter! Thanks for dropping by, and don't forget to review!~ see you next chapter!**


	2. comfort and the feeling of deja vu

**AN: Welcome to chapter two! Thanks for taking a look; I don't own tiger and bunny, or any of its awesome characters. I apologize for two things, first, that this chapter is horribly short compared to the first, and second, Yuri is horribly ooc. Anyway, forgive Echo, she tried. So, please read, enjoy, and don't forget to make Miss Echo happy by leaving a review! Thanks, and thanks again! **

Fitz paced back and forth in front of Ivan's couch, where said hero sat quietly listening. Fitz let out a frustrated sigh and began again.

"Doesn't she see that she's letting him get away with it, she could stop it all, but she doesn't? We all know what's going on, why don't we just go down there and stop him!" It was true, Val was friends with each of the heroes, and they could all see the ugly marks all over her once smooth, milky skin. Still, when they confronted her about it, she gave the same excuse she had given to Fitz. "I swear, if only I were a hero too, I'd go down and take care of him myself!" he stopped and let his fists clench.

Ivan leaped up from the sofa and placed a comforting hand on his boyfriends shoulder. Fitz could do nothing but let his muscles relax and let the tears well up in his eyes as Ivan pulled him into a tight embrace. He hated seeing his best friend like this, and knowing she could put an end to all of her suffering, but didn't only made it worse.

In the morning, Valeriya went through her morning rituals as well as rewrapping her injured arm. She made sure that the bandage was not visible before she left for work, having covered the ugly bandages with the sleeve of a blazer. She didn't even look at Yuri as she entered the office, and he took note of her behavior. When she sat down at her desk, her face held no expression, just a blank, empty stare.

Reaching up to a shelf to retrieve a book, she took in a sharp gasp, having stretched the injured arm too far. She instantly brought the limb closer, cradling it to her chest while trying to keep her tears at bay.

Yuri had been plagued with thoughts of her all night, the gruesome scene replaying in his head. He couldn't believe that it was real. He was jolted from his thoughts as her gasp echoed through the small space. In an instant, he was at her side. He gingerly took her wrist and brought it closer to his face to examine after pushing up the sleeve of her black blazer far enough.

"What happened?" he asked quietly, acting as if he didn't know.

"Oh, my boyfriend just got a little angry, that's all, it was my fault, I should've known better." She let out a small, weary chuckle before gasping again in pain. She felt him unwrapping the bandage and his eyes widened at the number of deep gashes on her arm. He knew that the damage to her arm had been bad, but he wasn't expecting it to be as bad as he saw it now.

"I'm sure you did nothing to deserve this punishment, you are an innocent woman, and only weak men harm the innocent." He said with furrowed brows. Something about that phrase made Vals eyes jump to his, where had she heard that before?

"Your wounds are not properly cleaned; I'll escort you to the med bay." His tone was sympathetic yet firm.

"Oh that's not necessary, I'm fine, really." She smiled weakly, and he saw the pain on her face. He scowled at her and she stood in compliance.

They walked down the hall, one arm wrapped around her waist, while his other held her wounded arm up. She felt all the stares of the heroes in the gym as the passed. She knew they were judging her and she let felt a tear roll down her cheek, this did not go unnoticed by Yuri who was tucked closely at her side.

"You needn't feel embarrassed; this is not your fault. There is no shame in seeking help." He reassured as if reading her mind.

Inside the gym, all the heroes stopped what they were doing and watched the pair walk by through the glass. Outside, Yuri Petrov held gently onto Valeriya, supporting her as she walked. The frail woman looked like a ghost to them, pale, tiny, and tears now falling from her eyes. Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, Ivan dialed Fitzs number as quickly as he could as he walked away from the others.

"Hey, where ya goin origami?" tiger yelled after him

"I have to make a quick call to my sponsor!" he lied.

Down in Saitos work room, fitzs phone buzzed.

'That's weird, what does Ivan want in the middle of the day?' he thought to himself after checking the caller id.

"Hello?" he answered cautiously.

"Fitz, it's me, something's wrong with Valeriya, Yuri Petrov was just taking her down the hall towards the sick bay, she was crying and she looked hurt." He blurted out.

Fitz eyes widened slightly at the news and he paused for a moment before answering.

"Alright, thanks Ivan" he thanked before closing the phone. Getting onto the computer, he accessed the cameras in the medical facility.

When Val and Yuri reached the medical facility, a nurse greeted them. She was an older woman with a gentle smile.

"Hello! How can I help?" she asked sweetly.

"I just cut myself on some glass, that's all." Val shrugged a bit. Yuri handed the womans small wrist to the nurse who eyed the lacerations carefully.

"Well, those are some nasty cuts you have! It looks like there are still some glass pieces in there. We need to get those out, disinfect them and get some bandages on them right away or you'll get a horrible infection! Now follow me and we can get that taken care of in no time." The two followed her and she motioned for Val to sit up on the examination table, which the raven haired woman reluctantly complied with.

Seeing that everything was under control, Yuri turned to leave, but felt a gentle tug on his jacket. Turning, his green eyes were met with her fear filled doe orbs.

"Please stay, I'm…I'm scared, it's gonna hurt." Noticing the tears, he stepped closer and sighed. "I won't go anywhere."

The nurse retuned in a flash with a tray of interments. Valeriyas eyes widened as the nurse picked up the tweezers.

"Alright, we have to get that glass out of there, you want it to feel better yes?" she asked in a sugary voice. All Val could do was shut her eyes and nod. Her eyes shot open when she felt a warm, larger hand encase her own. She looked up and her scared eyes met his gentle ones. She closed her eyes again as she felt the metal of the tweezers digging into the open wounds. She let out a strangled cry, and tilted her head back. This was when Yuri noticed the faint hand print circling her neck. At this, his anger soared and he grasped her hand tighter, causing her to open her eyes and look at him. His look of anger instantly washed away and became gentle as he reassured her. "Everything's going to be alright, you're not alone, I'm right here." he soothed as he stepped closer and his free hand began to rub tender circles in her back to distract her from the nurses work.

"There, all of the glass has been removed, so all we need to do now is disinfect and wrap!" the nurse informed after what seemed like forever.

Vals tired eyes opened and she looked up at Yuri who smiled warmly down at her. Leaning her head to the side, she laid it on his shoulder and he began to stroke her silky black hair.

"Now, it's going to sting a bit, are you ready?"

Val only nodded, her eyes already closed. She griped his hand tighter at the stinging and he continued to soothe her by stoking her soft raven lochs.

After the nurse had bandaged the wounds, she ended the procedure by saying "There, you're all finished!" and taking her tray to clean her tools.

Moving so that he faced her, he enfolded her limp body to his torso, being careful of her arm. She understood and laid her head on his soft, welcoming chest. She couldn't help the stream of tears that fell from her eyes.

"I'm sorry; I'm getting your nice suit all wet." She apologized and ran a hand down his colorful tie, trying to wipe away the tears she had shed.

"That's no concern to me, why don't you take the rest of the day off." He suggested. To this offer she shook her head. "No, I'd really rather not go home." She said quietly.

"Then let's at least go out and get a cup of coffee and let things calm down?" She nodded and took the hand he offered to help her down. That was odd; she had a strange feeling of déjà vu.

In his workroom, Fitz watched the scene with a solemn look adorning his features. He knew how things would progress. Frank wouldn't stop until Valeriya was dead. He had to do something, he wasn't going to just sit around and let that happen to her, but for right now, it looked as if Yuri had the situation under control.

**AN: There's chapter two everybody! I hope Yuri wasn't too ooc for everyone. I apologize for that. Even still, I hope everyone enjoyed, and I hope to see you in the next chapter! Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave Echo a review! Thanks, and thanks again! **


	3. He remembered?

**AN: Hey everybody! I am so sorry, it's taken so long to update, things have been really crazy lately, and I just haven't had the time to write anything! But finally, I have a new chapter to post! HUZZAH! As always, I don't own any of the characters from Tiger and Bunny. (Sadly) Thanks for taking a look, and hope you enjoy! Comments always make Miss Echo happy, so let me know what you think! Thanks, and Thanks again!**

Yuri held his hand out to her and she drew in a shaky breath before taking it with her one good hand. Placing his other hand on her hip for support, he helped her down off the high seat.

With a mumbled thank you, she wobbled a bit before standing fully upright. Even when she stood straight, he noticed the pale complexion on her face. The lack of colour was enough to cause him to keep a steady hand on her hip, just in case.

"Come, a hot cup of coffee will help clear your mind." His tone was low and caring.

Val answered with a nod and walked towards the door, mindful of the hand gently guiding her out of the med bay and down the hall.

Fitz leaned back in his chair as he observed the pair exiting the medical facility. He could no longer see them as they ventured into the hallway. He let out a heavy sigh, and removed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. This was only going to continue to get worse, he knew that something had to be done, and if no one else was going to take action, he was.

The trip past the gym was once again embarrassing for Valeriya, she turned away from the glass, seeing the heroes stop what they were doing and watch them pass out of the corner of her eye. She held her bandaged arm close to her chest hoping to hide it from the onlookers.

A few of the heroes hung their heads or turned away, not wanting to watch them pass. Kotetsu watched with no shame, he could tell something was up with the pale man, since when had he cared about someone enough to help them like this?

"You shouldn't stare Kotetsu, it's rude." Barnaby scolded, breaking the older man from his thoughts.

"Huh?" he snapped back to reality "Sorry, I just don't get what's up with that guy." He said, absently scratching his goatee while turning away.

Everyone in the gym let out sighs and returned to their activities, wondering just how dense Kotetsu really was.

Yuri silently nodded to the man behind the desk in the lobby after stepping off the elevator. He led Val to the large glass doors and held one open for her while she passed through.

Once they stepped out into the warm sunlight, Yuri stood beside her and held her close to him as they traveled down the sidewalk. It was still early in the day, and the Sternbild streets were as crowded as always. He stood so that her injured arm was sheltered by his body, keeping passersby from bumping into it and causing her even further pain.

Valeriya looked at all the people she passed; did they know how she felt? Were any of them like her? Or was she the only one who had to endure this torture? A woman pushing a stroller caught her attention and she felt herself staring at the mother. She wondered what her own mother would think of her now; would she be disappointed in her? Would she be proud? Or would she be disgusted with how her daughter had changed through the years? Val wished that she could know.

Rounding the corner, they stood in front of a small café.

"Here we are." He stated monotonously, once again holding the door for her as she entered the small building.

Leading her to a table and pulling out her chair for her, he motioned for her to sit. He pushed in her chair, as any gentleman would, and smiled at her.

"You stay here; I'll go get us some drinks." He instructed her.

She watched him walk up to the counter and order two coffees. Handing the young girl at the counter a card, he waited for her to swipe the card and hand it back to him.

Something didn't make sense to her, he was taking care of her, and comforting her, sure, he'd always been nice to her, but there was a difference between the usual niceness, and this comfort. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought at trying to solve this question.

A few minutes later, the girl handed him two coffees. He turned and began heading back to the small table where Valeriya still sat. After sharing an office with Val for as long as he did, he knew exactly how she liked her coffee, two creams, and one sugar.

"Here you are." He smiled at her, handing her the hot beverage.

She jumped at his reappearance, she had been so lost in thought, she had zoned out. She reached out and took the cup with a shaky hand.

"Th-thank you." Her eyes dropped to the floor and she felt a warm blush rise to her cheeks. Yuri walked to the opposite side of the table, now sitting to face her. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip, her eyes widening at her sudden realization, he gotten it exactly how she liked it, it was perfect. The same rosy hue from before reappeared on her cheeks and she smiled at him. it touched her that he cared enough to remember something as insignificant as how she took her coffee.

"How are you feeling?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

She took a pause to think of a proper response, she couldn't tell him the truth, that she was utterly terrified of going home, in a ridiculous amount of pain, and horribly disappointed in herself. Instead she had to put on a fake smile and lie.

"I'm feeling much better, thank you."

Yuri was far from stupid, he could see through her blatant lie. His small smile dropped, and he looked into her dull eyes. He knew what she was really feeling, and that she was too proud to do anything but lie.

"So what happened last night, would you like to talk about it?" he asked quietly.

"It was just a little slip up; it happens sometimes, it's no big deal, really." She dismissed with a wave of her good hand.

He decided to tiptoe around the subject for now, but he would come back to it. He noticed the way she fiddled with the bandages when not gripping her coffee, gently rubbing at the light red stained gauze.

A customer on the other side of the coffee house turned up the tv that hung on the wall.

"Look everybody! They caught Lunatic!" the woman shouted happily.

Everyone turned to the tv to watch as the police pulled of the mask, realizing that the person was an imposter, he hadn't even gotten the design on lunatics mask correct. All of the people in the small room let out disappointed groans, turning back to their previous activities.

"I wish they would treat him better." She mumbled to herself, glaring at her mug. This piqued Yuri's interest.

"Hm? Are you routing for the masked vigilante?" he asked with an amused smile

"well, he did save me.." she smiled softly, remembering what he had said to her, wait, she had heard that a second time…somewhere, she just couldn't remember where…

"Saved you?" Yuri asked, playing clueless.

"Yeah, I was on my way home one night, and some guy….some creep, tried to get some…" she scowled "Lunatic saved me from becoming just another woman in a body bag. Although, part of me wishes he wouldn't have butted in…" she didn't even realise what she was saying, and that she was spilling her true feelings to him.

Yuri saw that she was coming back around to the subject and decided to take his chance to address his real question.

"Why did you say earlier that that your injury was no big deal? It is not alright for anyone to treat another in such a way." He inquired; he was going to get right to the point, without letting on that he knew what had really happened.

She hung her head and frowned, now rubbing her hand along the side of the hot coffee cup.

"It's not his fault; he's just going through some hard times, that's all. He's frustrated with life, and I understand that."

Yuris mind automatically snapped to his memories, she sounded just like his mother. His fists clenched at her words. This man had conditioned her into believing that it wasn't his fault, that she deserved this, that things could, and _would_ get better, but he knew better.

"That is no excuse. You are a beautiful, strong woman, and no one should treat you in such a way."

Her cheeks turned red and her head shot up to look at him. Had she heard him right, or was she imagining things? Realizing what he had said, his own pink blush dusted his pale cheeks.

The silence fell between them, and he watched as she shook her head lightly, trying to rid herself of her embarrassment. Finally, he decided to break the silence by clearing his throat.

"Why don't you take a night and get out of the house, go out into town, have a good evening." He suggested. It was the best advice he could think of, she needed to distance herself from hm and have a good time doing something she enjoyed.

She scoffed at his idea. "Sure, doing what?" she replied sarcastically, she had gotten into a fight with her best friend, been humiliated in front of all the heroes, and knew what would happen if she left Frank too long without his dinner.

He wasn't shocked at her answer, he knew that she was embarrassed earlier, and wouldn't call any of the heroes to go out on the town with her.

"How about dinner? We can go to La Rive." He suggested, making her look up at him with a surprised look.

She wanted so desperately to take the invitation, knowing that the time away from Frank would be nice, plus, she really wanted to spend some time with Yuri. Val blushed at the thought of having dinner with him at such a nice Italian restaurant. Her small smile began to whither. She knew what she wanted, but at the same time, she knew that she just couldn't, Frank would be extremely angry with her, she couldn't even imagine what Frank would do to her this time, he had already gone to new levels.

"we can go after work if you're sure you don't want to take the rest of the day off."

She decided in that moment to be spontaneous, to take the offer and not give a damn what Frank said, she could deal with him later.

"Alright, that sounds lovely. Perhaps we should head back to the office then, apollon wouldn't be happy if they knew about this break." She giggled when he stood and offered her his arm. She slipped her arm through his and the two made their way back to their office.

Fitz sat in his office, thinking through his plan, if no one else was going to stop Frank, he would do it himself. He would go to that house, and stand up to the gross excuse for a man in Vals place. He wasn't sure exactly sure what he was going to say yet, he would think of it on the way there, but for now, he had to create a plan of action. Fitz knew that Val was usually home right away after work so Frank wouldn't get angry, so today was out, but tomorrow during his lunch; he would go over there, making sure that no one knew his plan. He was sure that if Ivan knew about his plan, he'd try and stop him.

It was set, he knew Vals address, he had only been to her crappy apartment once, but he remembered exactly where it was. It was time for his work day to end, and he was already thinking about what he was going to say tomorrow while shutting his computer down and stacking his papers neatly on his desk.

**AN: What is Fitz planning? How do you think it'll turn out for him? anyways, thanks for reading this chapter, and the next one is on its way! Hope to see you in the next installment! Thanks for joining me! **


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